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Lee Hart puts her jacket back on while talking with security officer Rayme Vinson after going through the new security screening process at the Alaska State Capitol on Monday morning. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire)

News

TSA-style security screenings now required for visitors at Alaska State Capitol

Lawmakers, family, staff and other with keycards can bypass scans that began Monday.

Will Muldoon’s official campaign profile photo as a Juneau Board of Education candidate in the 2024 municipal election. Muldoon resigned from the board on Monday. (City and Borough of Juneau photo)

News

Former write-in candidate Will Muldoon resigns from Juneau Board of Education

Muldoon, first write-in to win local election in 29 years in 2021, won easily reelection last fall.

The Norwegian Bliss cruise ship docks in downtown Juneau on Monday, April 21, 2025. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire)

News

Ballot petition to restrict daily and annual cruise passengers in Juneau certified for signatures

Opponent of measure argues it violates due process, free travel and other constitutional rights.

Protesters rally against the Trump administration’s deportation polices in front of the Alaska State Capitol on Feb. 5, 2025. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire file photo)

News

‘Just give us a chance’: One Juneau refugee family puts faith in God, another flees as departure orders arrive

Both families arrived legally; validity of demands by Trump administration to depart being challenged

A polar bear is spotted on a multiyear ice floe in the Beaufort Sea on Aug. 13, 2023. The Trump administration is planning to designate a new “High Arctic” region off Alaska for offshore oil and gas leasing. (Photo by Petty Officer 1st Class Scott Bice/U.S. Coast Guard)

News

Trump administration plans offshore oil leasing in Alaska’s ‘High Arctic’

Multiyear program will include a reconfigured Arctic area where future lease sales will be held.

Gov. Mike Dunleavy and other state of Alaska officials pose for a photo with Taiwan President Lai Ching-te, center, and other government officials during Dunleavy’s trip to Taiwan last month. (Taiwan Office of the President photo)

News

Alaska’s governor flew to Taiwan to sell LNG. China’s not happy.

China says Dunleavy’s trip “sends a very wrong signal to the ‘Taiwan independence’ separatist forces.”

The Norwegian Bliss docks downtown on Monday, April 14, 2025. (Jasz Garrett / Juneau Empire file photo)

News

Juneau’s leaders to discuss city’s long-term future, cruise industry in series of public meetings

Four sessions on CBJ’s 20-year plan on Tuesday and Wednesday; Assembly and cruise leaders meet Thursday.

Tina Martin, left and her daughter, Isabelle, 17, clean trash from a stream along Back Loop Road on Saturday. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire)

News

Carcasses, recliners and butts all part of a bustling annual Juneau spring cleaning

Cleanups throughout town include newcomers and those participating for decades.

Aleijah Fulmer, 6, deposits the plastic shells of eggs in a basket after removing the candy inside during the Molly of Denali EGG-Stravaganza at the University of Alaska Southeast on Saturday. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire) (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire)

News

UAS celebrates ‘Molly of Denali’ Emmy win with watch party and Easter egg hunt

Award for Native language instructor who wrote episode gives university a reason to resurrect egg event.

(Michael Penn / Juneau Empire file photo)

News

Police calls for Wednesday, April 16, 2025

This report contains public information from law enforcement and public safety agencies.

(Michael Penn / Juneau Empire file photo)

News

Police calls for Tuesday, April 15, 2025

This report contains public information from law enforcement and public safety agencies.

(Michael Penn / Juneau Empire file photo)

News

Police calls for Monday, April 14, 2025

This report contains public information from law enforcement and public safety agencies.

Josh Chevalier, chief engineer of the MV Columbia, shows legislators the engine control room, and explains the control and monitoring systems on Tuesday, April 8, 2025. (Jasz Garrett / Juneau Empire)

News

‘Out of sight, out of mind’: Engineers are the ones who keep state ferries moving

Challenges of workforce recruitment and retention persist in globally competitive maritime industry.

The Norwegian Bliss arrives in Juneau on Monday, April 14, 2025. (Jasz Garrett / Juneau Empire file photo)

News

Ships in port for the week of April 20

This information comes from the Cruise Line Agencies of Alaska’s 2024 schedule. Capacity figures in parenthesis were pulled…

Dancers exit the main conference room at Elizabeth Peratrovich Hall as part of the opening ceremonies for the Central Council of the Tlingit and Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska’s 90th Tribal Assembly on Wednesday, April 16, 2025. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire)

News

Tlingit and Haida votes to give smaller Southeast communities more representation at tribal assembly

Change during constitutional convention significantly shrinks delegations in Anchorage and Seattle.

Gov. Mike Dunleavy (R-Alaska) speaks to reporters about his decision to veto an education funding bill at the Alaska State Capitol on Thursday, April 17, 2025. (Jasz Garrett / Juneau Empire)

News

Dunleavy’s veto of education funding bill puts pressure on lawmakers during final month of session

Governor also previews new bill with $560 BSA increase, plus additional funds for policy initiatives.

The front page of the Juneau Empire on April 13, 1995. (Jasz Garrett / Juneau Empire)

News

Empire Archives: Juneau’s history for the week ending April 19

Three decades of capital city coverage.

Rep. Andy Josephson, D-Anchorage and co-chair of the House Finance Committee, in charge of the operating budget, listens to debate Monday, April 14, 2025, on the operating budget. (James Brooks/Alaska Beacon)

News

Alaska House votes down symbolic antiabortion budget language, passes amendment against trans care

Debate continues this week on draft state operating budget authored by the House of Representatives.

People and one of their pets depart the city’s cold-weather emergency shelter in Thane on Wednesday morning, the last day it is scheduled to be open until October. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire)

News

Homeless unsure about their plans, JPD more certain about theirs as warming shelter closes until fall

Police will issue 48-hour vacate notices at campsites in public areas deemed problematic, chief says.

Gerald Thill, 7, inspects a weathered can before placing it in a litter bag during the annual citywide cleanup in 2023. (Ben Hohenstatt / Juneau Empire file photo)

News

Community invited to come together to create a cleaner Juneau

Annual litter-free pickups from separate organizations take place Saturday in celebration of Earth Day.